Gachi

I would give this place a 3.5 if I could give half stars on Unilocal.
I like that the restaurant is on 17^th but a bit more south and not the crazy busy part of 17^th. The restaurant is small, could seat maybe about 30 people if packed. There’s a parking lot in front.
Tried two dishes during lunch time — the gachi smoked salmon eggs benny and the chicken curry omerice.
I had much more expectations for the benny, but the omerice was sooo good! It was super flavourful, and a good portion with fruits on the side, as well as a salad. So good. The chicken was really tender, and the curry itself was somewhat similar and reminded me of butter chicken.
The eggs benny on the other hand, looked really impressive but did not taste as great as it looked. Their benny is a bit different, the smoked salmon comes on the side with onions and capers. On the benny itself is a grilled tomato, deep fried hash (?) on a brioche. I thought even though the concept was cool, the brioche was too sweet and the different tastes did not go well together. The portion of the smoked salmon was impressive, but tasted a little fishy (not the good kind of fishy) to me. It might help if it’s served with a lemon wedge or something. This dish also came with either a side of fruits or potatoes.
I liked the omerice enough that I would be willing to go back and try some other dishes for dinner. Hope they try reinventing their benny to improve for brunch services.

Asian fusion is a scary concept. It usually means sushi roll type food doused in a crazy sweet caloric sauce. Gachi is no exception to this but the funny thing is… it isn’t all that bad.
It is a very well decorated space. There was even a TV that showcased their menu. With beautiful plating presentation of their dishes, it also worked as décor and a very enticing ad helping you decide what to order.
As for the menu, Gachi features dishes anywhere from central asia to southeast asian to east asian. They make good use of mayo, spicy mayo, and cheese all across the board, masking anything reminiscently Asian with the flavor of fat instead. We dined here as a group of 4 with varying palates but everyone ended up enjoying their meal anyways.
What really stood out for me were the cocktails. If you order the Cloudy Melon it tastes like a green melona bar. Probably because it comes with a whole melona bar dipped into it!

Our experience at Gachi was delightful. The Salmon Tataki Salad was a wonderful appetizer and all the main dishes we ordered for dinner were also very tasty. The «Magma» dish was spicy, but if you can stand the heat, is highly recommended. The food presentation rivals any gourmet restaurant – but with generous portion sizes. Can’t wait to come back and try their very creative looking brunch menu!

Showed up at 6:30 on a Saturday night and was able to get seated in this small quaint restaurant right away without a reservation, so lucky us. Ordered the seafood pancake, 1−2−3 chicken and pork on fire don buri. 1−2−3 was really good, a good mix of Korean style fried chicken bites in different sauces. The pork on fire was full of flavor with a kick, but not overly spicy, and the seafood pancake was just ok, I’d recommend trying other dishes before ordering that one. Wish I had room to try dessert but was way to full. will go back to try more things on the menu.

AMBIENCE: Small establishment. Modern, mellow, and good taste in music. Server was great. 2.5÷2.5
FOOD: Wasabi Ebi ($ 11) were made with too much batter and sauce, but they do fit 2 prawns in each piece (about 4 – 5 pieces in total) and the sauce is quite good, just hard to eat more than one or two. The Wild Calamari ($ 11) was garnished with cherry tomatoes and onions as well as a couple onion rings and rice crackers/​chips at the bottom, served with a pretty good sauce too. Smoked Salmon Salad ($ 13) was nicely presented with dressing and pickled cabbage on the side. «Jimdark» ($ 16) was had by my +1 and was served in a stone bowl with glass noodles, chicken, potatoes, mushrooms and carrots, plus these rice/​seaweed/​sesame globs on the side, shaped like the rice parts of nigiri sushi. We thought it was alright but the spicy soy soup base wasn’t our favourite. I’m still not convinced the rest of the menu is as mediocre though. ½.5
Overall good not great food overshadowed by pretty much everything else about the experience. Wanted to give 3.5 stars, but I will give the benefit of the doubt until I try more of the menu.

A must try! Had lunch today at Gachi and I can’t wait to go back! Food was great, portions were generous and well priced with a lovely ambience and attentive service.
The ambience of the restaurant is very welcoming, with a modern interior and great music. Plenty of parking available at the front as it wasn’t very busy around noon. Had the orange ebi (Deep-​fried prawns with house-​made orange mayo sauce) which was excellent! The dish comes with 5 prawns but there was three of us sharing it as an appetizer — a 6^th prawn was added so we could each have two without asking. A nice touch. We were given a salad before our main dish that had lots of fresh veggies and a delicious dressing. For my entrée I had the Hot Yakiya noodle bowl with seafood. A large helping with lots of seafood. The dish was spicy (our waiter warned me) but the flavour was very good. We also ordered the spicy chicken donburi which was very good. Not too spicy but packed full of flavour and again, a very generous serving of proteins. There are also many options for beverages and cocktails. Our waiter was attentive. Everything was well priced for the serving sizes. All in all I had a great experience at Gachi, it’s a must try!

Andy our server was awesome.
I was pleasantly surprised to find decent food in this tiny strip mall.
We ordered the orange ebi, which is battered and coated with an orange flavoured sauce. The server also recommended we try the Mad Dragon roll. It was nicely presented with the eyes staring right at you. I forget all that was in the roll but it did have a kick to it.
We also ordered the Butter Chicken, which was just as good if not better than you find in an Indian restaurant.
Would I give this place again? Darn rights ! I’d drive out of my way for this food. Wait a minute, I did drive out of my way. I went after Unilocaling the joint first.
They take reservations, so I’d recommend making one. Although it wasn’t busy (yet), when we arrived. They were doing a steady take out business.
I was there at 5 on a Friday evening.

I went back again, brunch with my hubby.
I ordered Pan Cakes Salad Benedict. Very nice presentation but I guess it was just a bit too much. And everything I tasted in the dish was vinegar…
The food was warm, not hot, same problem that I had last time; but I do not understand coz they brought out the dish right away they cooked…

I’ve had Eggs Benny in many restaurants, but until I tried the Gachi Benedict with smoked salmon and capers I didn’t truly appreciate how well-​executed this standard offering could be. Their fresh interpretation neatly separated hot and cold components on an expertly plated dish, with chilled fruit pieces and crunchy, well-​seasoned potato pieces on opposite ends of an asymmetrical platter, the cold smoked salmon and hot poached eggs in between, each ingredient a bracing counterpoint to the other. It was, in a word, exquisite.

Nice addition to the Calgary food scene. I like what Gachi is trying to do. Creative, tasty and very well presented food. Not a huge fan of eating in when it’s busy as it’s a small space with not much room between you and your neighbours. Worth dining in when not busy as you can tell that they take pride in what they do.
Have tried most things on the menu. Donburis are good. I enjoyed the magma seafood stew and bon thai curry. Udons were ok. Calamari was good.
The Sante salad is actually one of my favourites. Chicken is done perfectly. Moist and flavourful — hard to do with boneless/​skinless. Something about the Himalayan salt they use… Nice, light dressing on the salad along with some grilled vegetables. Perfect light snack.
Sushi rolls are all quite tasty. They tend to use a fair amount of rice though and some of the rolls have some serious sauce on them. Not traditional sushi by any means but good and tasty. You’re not coming here looking for the sushi anyway.
Had high hopes for hambak steak. Seems to me it’s a play on the Hawaiian «loco moco» — up there in the world of comfort food. Our server hyped it up. It carries a $ 18 tag which Hawaiians would scoff at… but definitely more appealing to the eye than a standard loco moco. Couple of ground beef patties with pineapple rings on them covered in some sweet-​ish sauce. Sunny-​side up egg on the side. Some grilled vegetables as well as some broccoli with some kind of foam covering it. Fried rice accompanies it. Wanted to love it. Sauce was a bit different — loco moco is basically gravy over 2 burger patties and egg on rice. This was kinda like poutine that has gone too fancy, straying from the classic form. Combined with the price tag, likely the last try for me but I’d recommend it to those that it appeals to. Maybe some good hangover food.
They have a small, creative cocktails list as well as sake, soju, wines and beer. Corkage at $ 7/​head isn’t bad if you have some nice juice handy. Takeout is 10% off — not a bad option if in the area. They seem to tweak the menu here and there and just recently added brunch. Nice option for those who live in the Killarney area.

Some inventive Asian fusion here. Most of what we tried was delicious, and a few of the dishes pushed my opinion of Gachi from 3 to 4 stars.
Pro: The 1−2−3 chicken had some amazing savory sauces. The salmon tataki salad was not only perfectly done, but beautifully plated as well. The tofu island had the best ponzu sauce I’ve ever tasted.
Con: This place is tiny, and we were seated in an awkward spot by the door to the kitchen. My water and tea had a fishiness to them that I would associate with a cheap sushi restaurant. Finally, we had a fairly bad dish — the orange ebi. The six shrimp were so drenched in the cloying orange mayo that we could only eat one or two each.

This is a great neighbourhood restaurant. Unique food and well priced. A must order dish is the beef rice bowl (bowbolgi). A varied selection of vegetables and textures, with a slightly smokey sweet sauce.
Sushi here is as good as any reputable sushi joint (Red Ember, Zipang). Big Boss roll is packed full of goodies. The salmon roll was tasty, I’d omit the soy sauce and enjoy the spicy sauce (it really is spicy). Nice presentation.
My new favourite dish is yellow curry seafood bowl. The chef makes each dish fresh for you, so the soft shell crab was still crispy, despite bathing in a rich creamy coconut sauce.
The orange ebi is another must order dish. The prawns are good quality (as is crab), crunchy, creamy and not too sweet.
Two can get a very filling meal for under $ 50.00. Where else can you get that in Calgary? I plan to check out Gachi’s brunch menu, which is rolling out next week.

We liked the butter & the 1−2−3 chicken… the Ebi was fantastic!
Great addition to the neighbor!

One of the better Asian fusion restaurants I’ve had the pleasure of trying. Their small menu is a nice departure from the norm… offering room for wonderful specials like the Calgary Tower burger.
Welcoming potato appetizer…5 stars. Two small bite sized potato wedges covered in a savory sauce. Simply delicious. I hope this dish becomes a permanent fixture with larger wedges.
Wild Calamari…5 stars. A nice twist to an old favorite. The spice infused batter works well with the calamari and jalapeño sticks, which I LOVE (just enough jalapeño to give you a kick without setting your mouth on fire). Both ingredients were cooked perfectly. The accompanying sauce is simply icing on the cake! There are bits of sautéed onion as garnish but I didn’t care for them and simply brushed them off.
Orange Ebi…5 stars. If you enjoy honey walnut shrimp at local Chinese restaurants then you’ll love this appetizer dish… it’s basically the same but with an orange glaze added to the sweet mayo sauce. The prawns are cooked perfectly with a light crispy batter.
Sushi rolls…5 stars for taste, 3 stars for presentation. Not the best looking rolls (cut in different lengths) but certainly some of the best tasting… credit that to a healthy portion of ingredients. If you enjoy sushi, this place is a MUST.
Bulgogi Donburi…3.5 stars. This dish seems like a mix of Korean bulgogi and bibimbop but not as good as either one. The beef is cooked well but lacks the full flavor of the traditional marinade. The mayo drizzle and seaweed garnish do very little to enhance the taste of this dish. The sautéed vegetables do a better job but the dish still underwhelms when compared to its traditional counterparts. Nevertheless, most folks will enjoy this dish anyway.
Hot Yakiya…4 stars. Gachi’s version of Korean spicy noodles is a better attempt than their bulgogi dish. The sauce is not as spicy or as thick as the traditional dishes but it will appeal more to Western palates. Bring your appetite when ordering this dish cause you get a healthy portion of udon noodles.
Sweet Pamplemousse…5 stars. I’m not a fan of overly decorated dishes, but when it comes to deserts I tend to turn a blind eye. Gachi’s sweet pamplemousse is very reminiscent of DQ’s sundaes, with the whipped cream, fruity sorbet, sliced fruits and waffle bars all sitting on top of diced grapefruit flesh stuffed back inside its shell… I would’ve been happy with just a sprinkle of raw sugar. If you’ve got a sweet tooth like myself then you’ll love this dish, otherwise, stay far far away.
Looking forward to trying the rest of the menu!

I’m not sure what to think of Gachi. They seem to have taken the «I’ll have one of everything» very literally.
Go to Gachi when you want a great burger, or fresh sushi, or yummy flatbread, or soothing bulgogi. I was skeptical but everything I tried was delicious. All the customers were happy and why wouldn’t they be when the service was friendly and the prices were reasonable.
Gachi just opened this week and are a little behind with obtaining their liquor licence so you will have to wash down your «whatever» with water, pop, or tea. But they will give you a card for a free alcoholic beverage if you ask nicely.
Go now. Drink later.